No one had any illusions that sexism was cured. While high-profile abusers are finally facing repercussions for their actions and companies have stepped up efforts to construct policies that head off problems at the source, that’s all pretty cosmetic when it comes to ripping out patriarchy at the root. But still, one would have thought society had advanced a bit further than this.
In defense of the Law Society of New Zealand, its recent adventures in casual sexism contain the seed of its own redemption.
According LawFuel, the Law Society’s 150th Anniversary Commemoration dinner invitation proved a teachable moment for those trying to explain casual sexism. When giving the details of the event, LawFuel gave potential attendees some helpful advice on dress:
Dress: Men: Business attire, Women: Cocktail wear.
Swing and a miss.
It’s unfortunate for the organization too because the invitation also notes that “partners/spouses also welcome” managing to avoid saying, “WAGs welcome” which the invite undoubtedly said in days gone by. But this isn’t the sort of place where someone drops a ball — a human had to type in these words and had to process on some level that all the men are businesspeople coming to network and the women are party guests.
In a game attempt to square this, LawFuel spoke with a woman who offered that the whole thing was “less biased around gender than it may appear if the fashion context is taken into account.”
“To suggest business attire is appropriate for men and cocktail wear for women is two different standards. With that said, however, we also need to bear in mind that the spectrum of fashion for men is much narrower than for women. The mens’ version of “cocktail wear” could very well be said to be a business suit. It could be seen as the male equivalent of cocktail wear. In that context, the invitation seems much less biased around gender.”
In other words, “You see, the fashion world grew up around sexist assumptions about the workplace so parroting that lingo isn’t biased because… reasons.” No, it’s not fine to accept that because the fashion world couldn’t be bothered to change its vocabulary to assume women might be working too that this isn’t a slap in the face of the women who are partners in their firms and have to find some cocktail wear while the rest of the firm gets to come in business attire. If the issue is that the range of options for women is more expansive than for men, then just say everyone should come in cocktail attire and men will be in the same suits.
But, in fact, fashion does have a term for this and it’s “semi-formal” which may mean gaudy Sweet 16 garb for kids, but for adults means exactly what the Law Society is going for.
Do you want people dressed up but not in tuxedos and gowns? Then it’s semi-formal. Done. This shouldn’t be so difficult.
Law Society Goes Off Uncocked: The Cocktail Dress Brouhaha [LawFuel]
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.